DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 293 187 CS 506 112

AUTHOR Aitken, Joan E.TITLE The Role of Language and Gender in "The

Transformers": An Analysis of Messages in Cartoonsfor Children.

PUB DATE Oct 86NOTE 36p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the

Organization for thy: Study of Communication,Language, and Gender (October 1986).

PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150) ReportsResearch /Technical (143)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Cartoons; *Childrens Television; *Commercial

Television; Language; Popular Cultu.:e; Robotics;Sexual Identity; Socialization; TechnologicalLiteracy; Television Research; Television Viewing;*Toys; Violence

IDENTIFIERS Toy Industry

ABSTRACTNew technologically-oriented cartoons have been

developed in the 1980s, and they may influence the attitudes andbehaviors of their viewing audiences, who are comprised primarily ofmale children. A study analyzed "The Transformers" television program(a new robotic cartoon consisting of a mixture of violence,technology, space travel, and galactic adventure) specifically byexamining the language, violence, and characters of the cartoon. Theprogram was precipitated by two major forces: superhero cartoons andtoy manufacture. The innovative toys, which can be manipulated tocreate various figures, contributed to the immense popularity of theprogram. To obtain information on children's perceptions of "TheTransformers" television shows, 34 youngsters were asked to completea questionnaire on the program and participate in an oral discussionabout the cartoons, which they generally liked. At the same time, toanalyze the program content, 37 college students rated "TheTransformers" as to violence, characters, and language. Resultsindicated serious problems with the animated robotic adventure thatincluded: inappropriate technical language,.a complexity of evillines, and a harsh way to portray a good moral. Although Transformertoys have given children a creative and modern puzzle form, theextension of "The Transformers" into a television series has negativeassociations for children. (Thirty-four references and one table areappended.) (MS)

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a

Transformer Cartoons 1

The Role of Language and Gender in The Transformers: An

Analysis of Messages in Cartoons for Children

Joan E. Aitken

A paper presented at the nineth annual conference of the

Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and

Gender, October, 1986.

Joan E. Aitken, Ed.D. University of Arkansas, 1985, is

an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication,

the University of Southwestern Louisian'a. She expresses her

appreciation to Lisa M. Latour and Arlene F. Desselles for

their contributions to the ideas, research, and writing of

this paper.

Running Head: Transformer Cartoons

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Transformer Cartoons 2

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze The Transformers, as

an example of the new technologically-oriented cartoon. A

Transformer is a robot that can change from a human-like

form to a vehicle or animal form. The research method

included content analysis according to categories and

questioning of children. The author found that The

Transformers uses nearly all male characters, most of whom

represent nonhuman life forms. Human adults are nearly

nonexistent, and parents are portrayed in a minor or

negative role. The language includes three unique

characteristics: (a) a technical nature, (b) aggressive and

degrading content, and (c) a complexity typical of a high

reading level. The Transformers also contains physically

violent acts, such as shootings and explosions. This study

of The Transformers considers the potentially positive and

negative influences that animated robotic adventures may

have on children.

Transformer Cartoons 3

A relatively new type of cartoon has developed in the

1980's: adventure stories about robots. The animated

stories about cyborgs and robots have included: Robotech,

The Transformers, GoBots, Terrahawks, Super Saturday, Super

Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, and Voltron, Defender of

the Universe. Judging from the use of male characters in

the cartoons and male children in the advertising to sell

the toys portrayed in the cartoons, the animated robotic

adventures are geared for an audience of male children.

Between the toy industry and competition for viewers,

children's cartoons have become an important area of

competition (Woolery, 1983, pp. 41_43). Violence,

technology, space travel and galactic adventure have

contributed to the new robotic cartoons for children

(Fischer, 1983, p. xiii). These cartoon may influence the

attitudes and behaviors of their viewing audiences, who are

comprised of primarily male children. The purpose of this

paper is to analyze the characteristics of The Transformers

as an example of the the animated robotic adventure, by

examining language, violence, and characters. The method of

research included content analysis of six The Transformers

episodes and questioning of children.

Effects of Children's Television

Generations of parents have questioned the role that

media has played in the lives of their children. Every

parent has heard horror stories about behaviors prompted by

4

Transformer Cartoons 4

television, such as the instance when a child jumped off a

four-story building with the belief that he would soar into

the sky like a cartoon character. In another incident, a

young boy hit his three-year old sister on the head with a

chair because he saw a comparable technique used for revenge

on his favorite cartoon. Many cartoons have contained

violent incidents and stunts which some children have

imitated (Kaye, 1974, p. 2). The concern of parents is

well-founded because "children often demonstrate a

remarkable ability to ignore the dangerous consequences of

actions structured by keyings" which may be learned from

media (Davis & Baran, 1981, p. 169).

Although the effects of children's television has been

a subject of study for decades, we need more research. The

continually changing television programs, cultural

influences, and differences between children continually

raise new question. As Davis and Baran (1981) wrote: "We

do not fully know the effects of childr n's early exposure

to various codes." (p. 67) According to Bower (1984),

"researchers report that exposure to violent television

programs is significantly related to current levels of

aggression and future changes in aggression among

girls...and boys in...the United States" (p. 190). Some

people wonder if our entire society is at risk partially due

to the influence of television on today's youth. There are

several theories regarding the use of aggression in media.

Transformer Cartoons 5

The drive theory says that aggression is a natural human

phenomenon. Frustration theory contends that people feel

better when their frustration is vented aggressively. Some

researchers (Fowles, 1982) have contended that television

provides cathartic fantasies, to purge the viewer's violent

inclinations. Recent research on the cathartic theory

(viewing aggression released it from ones system so he or

she will behave less aggressively) indicates that viewing

violence fails to produce such a positive effect. (Davis and

Baran, 1981, pp. 162-163). An independent study sponsored

by the National Institute of Mental Health showed that the

behavior of preschool children worsened when they viewed

violent television programs and improved they viewed

socially constructive television programs. Studies prepared

for the Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on

Television and Social Behavior found that children's

cartoons were the most violent of all programs examined

(Kaye, 1974, p. 62).

Simply the sheer amount of exposure to violence has

concerned many parents. More than thirty years ago Wertham

(1954), showed that one third of children's television

programs contained violenc' or crime, a far greater

proportion than adult television (p.370). One more recent

study found that the average cartoon hour had nearly six

times the violence rate of the average adult television

drama hour (Kaye, 1974, p. 62). In another analysis, the

C

Transformer Cartoons 6

CBS network averaged 31 violent acts per hour in its

cartoons, ABC averaged 21 violent acts per hour in its

cartoons, and NBC averaged 19 violent acts per hour in its

cartoons. Comparable prime time violence figures indicated

far less violence for adults: CBS with 4.9 acts per hour,

ABC with 5.1 acts per hour, and NBC with 7.5 acts per hour

(Harrison, 1981, p. 129). Thus, the children's cartoons

averaoed three to six times more violence than adult

programming. An even higher proportion of violence may be

available through The Transformers which showed more than

twenty acts of violence per half hour episode.

The statistics about the amount of television children

watch continue to make the analysis of their viewing habits

an important research topic. Children now watch nearly

thirty hours of television each week, four hours more than

children watched a decade earlier. America's youth continue

to spend more time in front of their television tubes than

their school teachers (Tooth, 1985, p. 65). Davis and Baran

(1981) estimated an even higher viewing rate for

preschoolers of over fifty-four hours of television per

week, which amounts to nearly 65 percent of the child's

waking hours, and some children average six to seven hours a

day (p. 91-2). Rebel (1983) found that heavy television

viewing increased children's anxiety. One might conclude

that heavy viewing coupled with watching a program with

heavy violence will increase children's anxiety even higher.

Transformer Cartoons 7

One may argue that an advantage to the nature of

violence in the animated robotic adventure is that the

interaction is between machines, rather than between people.

Arguably, the more unrealistic the program, the less apt

children identify with and emulate the characters. But as

Becker (1983) explained: "The media, especially television,

expose children to a wide variety of examples or models of

behavior." He went on to say that television can provide

models and a means of social comparison to "evaluate our

opinions, abilities, and behaviors" (p. 406). Those various

models provide a distortion of accepted societal norms,

which has even greater implications when the child is

confused about reality. Because evidence has indicated that

young children think computers and other moving things are

alive (Turkle, 1984), children also may consider the

cartoons characters are alive and realistic. Children may

be confused about the reality of robotic adventures,

especially when one advertisement for transforming toys

touts "Powertrons: They're alive." Collins (1981) wrote:

The emerging evidence on cognitive processing strongly

indicates that grade-school and pre-adolescent children

construct representations of typical programs that vary

considerably in how accurately and completely they

reflect the content of portrayals; and their

evaluations of the portrayed characters and actions

s

Transformer Cartoons 8

appear to vary concomitantly with their comprehension.

(p. 333).

According to Harrison (1981), the concern was not that

the cartoon violence was too realistic, but that the

unrealistic violence gave a distorted view of the real

danger of violence (p. 127). Certainly, logic indicates

potentially negative effects on children who watch violent

programming. As Bower (1984) explained about recent

research:

They find that, for boys, violence viewing has a

greater effect on aggression if the child strongly

identifies with violent television characters. For

both sexes in the United States, aggression, academic

problems, social unpopularity and violence viewing

appear to feed on each other in a circular fashion.

...[T]he child most likely to be aggressive also

watches violent programs most of the time they are on,

believes these shows portray life just as it is, [and]

frequently has aggressive fantasies." (p. 190)

Because adventure shows are designed particularly for boys,

and because adventure shows have heavy violence, adventure

shows have a unique influence. Singer and Singer (1981)

found that boys who scored highest on imagination watched

relatively few adventure shows. They also found that boys

who watched few adventure shows were less apt to exhibit

aggressive behavior.

Transformer Cartoons 9

As the field of television analysis has expanded to

"become an academically respectable pursuit" (Gronbeck,

1983, p. 138), one can consider the analysis of children's

programs an important step in analyzing the learning and

acculturation of children. Rice and Wartella (1981) warned

that researchers need to consider the entire viewing

experience. We must consider the situation and child as

unique: "the cild who is interpreting television is an t

active participant in a dynamic communication of diverse

messages that are coded in a number of ways" (p. 372). Thus

one must be careful about drawing conclusions that are

supposed to apply to all children. In a study of the

arousal of emotions during television viewing, Dorr (1981)

expressed concern over the relationship between children's

understanding of television and its, impact on feelings when

she wrote that:. "research into the relationship between

understanding and impact is sorely needed" (p. 344).

Newcomb (1986) contended that television criticism and

empirical research can work together to better analyze

television effects (p. 226). This paper incorporates a

combination of a critical approach with empirical study.

Transformer Origins

Two major forces precipitated The Transformers

tele ision program: superhero cartoons and toy manufacture.

The idea of transforming robots appeared unusual at first.

If one looks at superhero cartoons, however--such as

10

Transformer Cartoons 10

Superman, Batman, Wonderwomazi and others-one can see

"normal" persons able to transform into fighting

superhumans. From that tradition came the transforming

robot. The recent popularity of Masters of the Universe and

Dungeons and Dragons provided a base for complicated

adventures. The new robotic adventure drew from several

sources to provide a technological orientation to adventure.

Toys began the Transformer craze. Any adult who has

personally examined a Transformer toy discovered an

interesting, creative, and revolutionary toy-form. One

might wonder who or what engineering genius invented the

concept. The transforming toys have utilized

characteristics of the long popular Matchbox-type vehicles,

puzzles, and technology. Children can use the toys to

interact with other children, create stories, and explore

relationships. When one watches children playing with the

toys, one can see children demonstrate creative thinking and

problem-solving processes.

For those who advocate creativity, the toys have

admirable qualities because they require the child to

visualize it as something it is not. When the child looks

at the robot, for example, he or she must be able to

visualize it as an automobile in order to make the

transformation. The Transformers are puzzles of sufficient

difficulty that they challenge adults. Many are small,

portable, and inexpensive toys. They are action toys,

11

Transformer Cartoons 11

requiring the child to move them and manipulate small parts,

while being careful not to break pieces. ney are thinking

toys, requiring the child to reconcptualize the form

and work a puzzle. The parts and patterns used challenge

children to use their hands and minds simultaneously,

bringing a sense of accomplishment upon success. As one

child explained: "What I like most is when it clicks when

you put it together....I like to turn it into a robot."

Although some parents can confidently purchase the

Transformer toys as ones with high value for their children,

others may question the way the cartoon counterparts suggest

children should play with the toys. The toys conversion to

the animated robotic adventure cartoon has changed an

exciting toy into a possible threat for children.

In recent years, several successful toys resulted in

cartoons (e.g. The Cabbage Patth Kids and Pretty Pony).

Once the Transformers caught the children's attention,

several toy manufacturers produced similar toys, and various

animated robotics adventure shows hit the television screen.

The immense popularity of the toys caused a shortage in the

1984 Christmas season. For the 1985 Christmas season, ore

advertisement warned: "While supplies last." As one

seven-year-old explained: "Everyone wants the big

Transformers n^w. They arc bigger and have more adventure."

A transforming toy can be changed from a robot to

something else, such as an animal, motor vehicle, or other

12

Transformer Cartoons 12

machine. According to the advertising literature (Hasbro,

1985): "THE TRANSFORMERS. IT IS A WORLD TRANSFORMED.

WHERE THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM. IT IS THE WORLD OF THE

TRANSFORMERS...A WORLD OF HEROIC AUTOBOTS AND EVIL

DECEPTICONS!" Now several manufacturers (Hasbro, Tonka,

Select, and others) have produced similar toys. The J. C.

Penney catalog (1985), for example, contained 66

transforming and 19 related toys. Hasbro (1985) showed

their series of Transformer toys as able to convert to over

140 toys. The good guys proved more popular, as they

manufactured 43 Heroic Autobots and only 29 Evil

Decepticons. Children can own a wide variety of Transformer

toys. Three examples of Transformers sold by J. C. Penney

(1985) 'included: (a) a working camera that converted into a

nonworking robot, (b) the Kronoform Diakron Multi-Force

Robot that made "14 different Space Fighter vehicles," and

(c) the $69.99 Voltron III Deluxe Lion Set in which 5

"powerful lion robots" combined "to become the awesome

Voltron III."

When asked where Transformers came from, one boy

responded with the name of a local store. "No, no,"

responded the interviewer, "where were they supposed to come

from, another planet?" According to the Marvel series:

Transformers are a race of living mechanical beings

from the planet Cybertron. Four million years ago, a

group of us comprised of two warring factions

13

Transformer Cartoons 13

crash-landed on Earth. When we recently awoke I led my

fellow Decepticons on a crusade to conquer this planet,

enslave its inhabitants and seize its energy resources.

(Carlin, 1986, p. 5).

Considering the popularity of Masters of the Universe

and Dungeons and Dragons, with their complex st ry lines and

infinite number of characters, a uniquely complicated

science-fiction toy series was inevitable. Perhaps the fact

that Transformers are nonhuman has made them more acceptable

creatures: less like the horror of our past middle ages and

more like a potentially helpful futuristic robot. In a

sense, the toys may be realistic in the future.

Method

To obtain information on children's perceptions of The

Transformer television shows, 34 children completed a

questionnaire on program. After completing the

questionnaire individually, the children participated in an

oral discussion of The Transformers and other cartoons. The

children were taken from two groups: a third grade public

school class and an elementary after-school day care. The

children were given 11 statements, to which they responded

yes or no. In some cases, children responded both "yes" and

"no" to indicate that both responses were correct. Table

One gives a summary of the children's responses to the

statements. A Chi-square was run on the results.

14

Transformer Cartoons 14

To analyze the program content, college students

volunteered to rate The Transformers. Each person rated one

of six episodes of The Transformers. Questions pertained to

the categories of characters, violence, and language, and

included counting, and answering closed-form and open-form

questions.

Findings

Children. The first set of findings to be reported are

from the questions directed to children. Two items shows a

significant difference between the responses of boys and

girls. Boys were better able to distinguish between good

and evil Transformers (Chi-square of 6.80, at significance

of level .01, Contingency Coefficient of .39, Cramer's Phi

of .43). There are several indicators to enable a viewer to

distinguish good from bad Transformers characters. It may

be that boys watched the program and played with toys more,

so they were better informed of differences. There are four

basic ways to tell: color, symbols, voices, and behaviors.

Color is one indicator, with "heroic autobots" being

primarily red, blue, gold, and dark green. "Evil

decepticons" are more apt to be yellow-green or purple. One

can also tell between the two based on their symbols. When

a boy was asked: "How do you tell the good guys from the

bad guys?" he started drawing in the air with his finger.

The child tried to explain the identification symbols--one

of two masks--on the Transformer bodies. One can also make

15

Transformer Cartoons 15

some distinctions by listening to the difference in voices.

A Darth-Varier -type voice is used for some evil robot'.

Higher pitched voices, c uthern accents, youthful voices,

and the pleasant vocal pitch and rate characterize the

different good Transformers. The good Transformers exhibit

more positive values and behaviors than the evil

Transformers.

The second are of significant difference was that boys

were more likely to attribute "power" to Transformers than

were girls (Chi-square of 6.68, at a significance level of

.01, Contingency Coefficient of .42, Cramer's Phi Prime of

.46).

The An four open-form questions gave insight into the

children 'o perceptions. Some respc--es are included below

by way of example.

A Transformer is like:

a. "a robot.'

b. "weird."

c. "a real dummy"

d. "a metal monster."

e. "people."

f. "Superman."

The thing I like about The Transformers show is:

a. "excitement and the way they transform.

b. "they fight a lot of time."

c. "T don't like it."

16

Transformer Cartoons 16

d. "it has great adventure."

e. "when my brothers are watching it, they can't

bother me."

f. "the power."

g. "violence."

h. "they are colorful."

The thing I do not like about The Transformers show is:

a. "I like everything about the show."

b. "they transform too fast."

c. "I don't like the evil team."

d. "They kill robots."

e. "Nothing."

f. "It is stupid."

g. "When they fight, I'm afraid the good ones will get

hurt."

h. "killing."

i. "when they die."

Tell about cartoons:

a. "The Transformers is the best cartoon you can see.

b. "Transformers are good for boys and I like it."

c. "Let your kid watch Transformers. They can watch

it when moms are cooking and when they get home from school

and on Saturday morning."

d. "I think everyone should watch them."

e. "I hate Transformers. They are for boys."

J7

Transformer Cartoons 17

f. "They are fun."

Adults. The second set of data is from the college

students. They found that the average characters per

episode were 15 male characters and 1 female character,

which included 15 nonhuman life forms, 14 adults, no

children, and no parents. Some raters noted one child

character and one or two parent characters. In one episode,

for example, the parent was a spirit able to communicate to

the child. In another episode there were two alien parents

who were negatively portrayed as people who tried to destroy

the good Transformers. One should exercise caution,

however, in interpreting this analysis by adult raters who

watched only one program. Most viewers come to know

characters over time (Piccirillo, 1986), so one-time viewers

may have a slanted perception of the program.

Regarding violence, raters indicated the following

averages per episode: five physically violent acts from

character to character, 11 shootings, and seven explosions,

for an average of 23 violent acts per half hour show. Some

raters found more than 40 violent acts in one half hour

episode. Several raters reported excessive violence in the

program. One rater, who was a parent, said that she had

never seen the program before, but was upset by what she

watched while completing the rating form. Her son regularly

watches the program, but she said she had not realized how

"violent," "harsh," and "deceptive" the program is.

18

Transformer Cartoons 18

Raters were asked to evaluate the use of language in

the program. Some raters commented on the Transformer

names. By way of example, some name of the heroic autobots

include: Omega Supreme, Optimus Prime, Perceptor, Brawn,

Cosmos, Inferno. Evil decepticon names include: Megatron,

Bonecrusher, Venom, Thundercracker, Bombshell, Shrapnel, and

Ravage.

Of the 37 raters, 33 were able to give examples of

technical language, 37 gave examples of aggressive language,

33 gave examples of degrading language, and 32 gave examples

of complex language.

Examples of technical language included:

a. "Spectro-galaxy analysis of rock."

b. "Astroid of organic nature."

c. "Immobilized program."

d. "Deprogram."

Examples of aggressive language included:

a. "Don't look scared moron, or I will have to destroy

you."

b. "Eat my dust."

c. "I will have revenge."

d. "Blow them out of the sky."

Examples of degrading language included:

a. "We've seen the last of that sucker."

b. "You ugly tin can."

c. "Cowardly fools."

.19

Transformer Cartoons 19

d. "I'd probably be a jerk too if I was made of junk."

e. "Vermin."

f. "Always give me surges."

g. "Suffering software."

Examples of complex language included:

a. "Warranty insurance."

b. "Static."

c. "Interrogation."

d. "New data indicates..."

e. "Complete analysis."

f. "Origin unknown."

g. "Just a shadow of my former self."

h. "Sprung a cog."

When asked the basic idea of the story line, four

raters said they did not know. Many of the answers revolved

around revenge, good robots versus bad robots, taking over

territory, saving earth from invaders. Some examples of

messages of the program included:

a. Any means of protection available."

b. "If someone doesn't agree with you, shoot them."

c. "Revenge is useless."

Raters varied in the value they saw in the messages.

Most.of the raters found the language to be unusually

technical and complex. Some answers to the question "How do

you think languageas used in this program?" included:

20

Transformer Cartoons 20

a. "It was a bit complex, and had a tendency to repeat

things."

b. "Half of the language, I couldn't understand what

they were saying."

c. "The language seems to be complex in order to teach

the children new words and meanings.

Regarding gender, some respondents commented that all

characters were male, some said females were in subservient

positions, and some said the robots were sexless. Some

answers to the question "What interpretation did you make

regarding the role of gender in this show?" included:

a. The only second they had a female was when she

served the men some food."

b. "The males were shown as competitive and violent.

They didn't show the females enough to judge."

c. "Females disregarded as the lower class.

d. "Gender is irrelevant."

e. The entire cast of characters was male."

f. "The males seemed to be genderless."

g. "Very chauvinistic males. Of the three women

portrayed, only one was an autobot. The other two were

waitresses."

The responses regarding an overall impression ranged

from very positive to very negative. Some example responses

included:

Transformer Cartoons 21

a. "While it was very entertaining it did not have any

real purpose."

b. "I thought the show was too overpowering for kids,

especially the mechanical, technical terms and names.

c. "During the action parts I really couldn't

distinguish half of the characters from the surroundings."

d. "I personally thought it was a horrible show and a

waste of a half hour."

e. "I didn't like it or understand it."

f. "Honestly, it is rasher interesting and appeals to

kids of all ages, although the vocabulary is rather

complex."

g. "No one is killed on the cartoon, but it is highly

violent."

h. "I think it was really great. Like all other

stories it has a moral."

i. "I thought the program was too complex for children

and the violence level was too much."

J. "Because these robots change into many different

forms, it allows children to use their minds concerning what

appears to be one thing could be somethins else."

k. "There are times when the show seemed over my

head."

Discussion

Several specific attributes have characterized the

animated robotic adventure cartoon: The Transformers. The

Transformer Cartoons 22

shows can be identified by: (a) transforming characters,

(b) technology and robotics, (c) themes of violence, (d)

orientation to a school-aged male child, (e) unusual

language, and (f) the accompaniment of advertising to sell

related toys.

The characters in the program The Transformers are

robots which transform into different figures. In "The

Ultimate Doom," for example, the "heroic autobots"

transformed into cars, vans, trucks, and dinosaurs and the

"evil decepticons" transformed into airplanes, cassette

recorders, cassettes, watch dogs, buzzards, and weapons.

Observation of children playing with the toys showed the

primary challenge in transforming to the robots.

Observation of The Transformers television episodes showed

the reverse, with the transformation into vehicles and

creatures being the unique appeal. When one child said the

main thing he did not like about the television show was how

fast they transformed, he may have hit on a significant

idea. The toys appeal because of transformation to robots

which take time and thought. The cartoons make the

transformation so quickly that they fail to stimulate the

child's curiosity. If the cartoons emphasized the

transformation process rather than the violent themes, they

may have a more positive appeal to children.

Robotic adventures .ntain characters and language

involving robots and cyborgs. Key characters are human-like

23

Transformer Cartoons 23

machines, part-human cyborgs, or computer-generated

equipment. Adults who watched the program complained that

it was complicated and hard to follow. Some voices are

distorted to sound mechanical and some of the ideas employed

technological explanations. It is possible that time spent

watching these cartoons may actually help children grasp

technological ideas. The correct use of language and

multiple syllable words serve as a strength of the program.

In one episode, for example, magnetic power immobilized the

computerized Transformers. Children who viewed that program

may have learned at least one piece of information about

computer technology.

The language of The Transformers is very advanced.

Cartoon writers employed mechanical terms along with

advanced technological language. Such terms as "body

enamel," "circuits," "iron manifolds," and "discs" may teach

children meaning by association. The program writers made

associations through the names of robots. The names

described or characterized each figure. Skywarp,

Starscream, Thundercracker, Soundwave, and C3iffjumper were

a few of the names used. Decepticons represented deception

or evil, autobots represented vehicles, and dinobots

represented dinosaurs.

Although cartoons have long held themes of good versus

evil, these Transformer cartoons' actually use the term of

"evil" to clarify the distinction, as demonstrated by the

24

Transformer Cartoons 24

"Heroic Autobots" and "Evil Decepticons." The Transformers

taught a moral at the end of each story.

When children watch cartoons, they may empathize with

characters, particularly the heroes. In The Transformers,

children identified most with the human boy who helped the

Transformers. The good, brave hero always destroyed the

evil forces in the end of The Transformer cartoons. The

moral taught was "good guy wins over buy guy," but the moral

was expressed in a destructive way. In one of the scenes,

the decepticon leader struck down his comrade threatening to

reduce him to "titanium fragments" if he ever "crossed" the

powerful leader again. The program showed evil was bad, but

presented the moral in an unusually harsh and violent way.

Another scene showed the two evil leaders worked together to

destroy the earth. Of course, the good autobots stopped the

evil decepticons in the end, but the majority of the scene

was composed of the evil ways one could deceive another.

Deception, self-centeredness, destruction, and betrayal

characterized the scenes of "The Ultimate Doom" episode of

The Transformers cartoon ("The Ultimate Doom," 1985).

Based on the number of male characters in the program

and the use of boys playing with Transformers in the

advertising, The Transformers cartoon is designed for boys.

Because the ratings services (Arbitron, 1986) do not provide

estimate of male-female viewers in the children's

categories, one can only speculate that the audience

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Transformer Cartoons 25

contains more boys than girls based on the program and

advertising content. Of The Transformers episodes analyzed,

the only human character was a male youth. One girl said:

"Boys probably play with Transformers more than girls,

because they probably have more." Television writers have

geared the animated robotic adventure, however, specifically

to boys. The content, language, use of male characters, and

male-oriented advertising appeal to boys. One may further

assume, however, that younger children watch the programs

with older brothers, and rely on them for interpretation of

the action. One study that examined the interaction between

siblings watching television (Alexander, Ryan & Munoz, 1984)

indicated: "Analysis revealed the strongly interpretive

nature of sibling interaction during television viewing"

(p. 359). Older siblings explain and interpret the

television action to younger brothers and sisters.

"Research studies have documented that female roles

have held at 25 to 30 percent of all TV characterizations.

Surprisingly, this percentage has been constant for thirty

years!" (Reed, 1980, p. 350) In the Transformers cartoons

it is approximately 15 males to one female. In the Smurf

cartoons--more popular among female children than males,

according to the children interviewed--the male-female ratio

is more than 50 males to one female character. One must

wonder how male and female children--as they learn about

26

Transformer Cartoons 26

gender--perceive the character roles in the cartoons they

view.

The language used in names, titles, and dialogue is

frequently complex and and harsh. One an find many

specific examples of the technical language use, such as:

"...disturb my cerebral-circuitry." (Carlin, 1986, p. 5).

Slang sayings were used such as: "tall, dark, and

gruesome;" "that should cook that turkey;" "laserbreath;"

"parting is such sweet sorrow;" and "this robot still has a

trump card to play." One might wonder how children

appropriately relate to such slang.

To test the level of language, a segment from the

beginning of one episode was analyzed to determine its

reading grade7level. Using several indexes, the reading

level ranged from tenth to twelfth grade reading level:

Raygor indicated twelfth grade, Dunning Fog indicated tenth

grade, and Flesche indicated eleventh grade. One must

immediately wonder what effect the language level has for

preschool and elementary children. One may argue that the

show must be designed for high school and college viewers

rather than young children. In fact, according to local

Arbitron (1986) ratings, there were fewer adult (over age

17) viewers of The Transformers than many other children's

cartoons.

The writers of the "Ultimate Doom" (1985) used strong

lines, especially as spoken by the evil decepticons. One

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Transformer Cartoons 27

line used by the decepticon leader was: "Silence you

miserable flesh creature, you are to be the first of a new

breed--a breed of slaves." A doctor said, "Creating a

mindless slave is simplicity itself, thanks to the brilliant

complexity of my hypno-chip." The hypno-chip was a special

mechanism implanted in the human brain to hypnotize. The

father, under hypnosis, told his son, "When next we meet, we

are enemies" (The Ultimate Doom, 1985). This use of power

appec.-s inappropriate for young viewers. Fiske (1986)

discussed the influence of the sense of powerless. on the

part of children (p. 205). Perhaps because children lack

power they appreciate cartoon characters who exhibit great

power. One might wonder if the size and power of a

Transformer makes children feel small and insignificant.

Researcher have considered whether or not superheroes have

made children feel vulnerable. According to the portrayal

in cartoons, the size of a human being is comparable to the

size of a Transformer hand.

In addition to the concern for violence, many

researchers have questioned the use of commercial

advertisements among children's programs. Commercials send

children three messages: (a) all problems are resolvable,

(b) all problems are resolvable quickly, (c) all problems

are resolvable quickly through technology (Postman, 1981, p.

44). In many ways, selling to children is unfair. People

recognize children as less mature, less educated, and in

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Transformer Cartoons 28

need of protection. Joan Ganz Cooney, president of the

Children's Television Workshop explained:

If we as a total society put the interest of our

children first, then we are led to the inescapable

conclusion that it is terribly wrong to be pitching

products at the young. It is like shooting fish in a

barrel. It is grotesquely unfair. (Kaye, 1974, p. 73)

To the television networks and stations, profits come

first, and profits are gained through product sales.

Broadcasters have found a build-in, presold audience for

their new programs, a boast that has produced nay hits. The

toy manufacturers, in turn, have received exposure for their

products with the help of series like "He-Man" which sold

more than 70 million plastic figures in the last three

years. One can easily understand why television

broadcasters and toy manufacturers have such a close

relationship (Waters and Uehling, 1985, p. 85). The toy

manufacturers and producers of animated robotic adventures

have worked together, as evidenced by the advertisement:

"Challenge of the Gobots They're Awesome! Check Local TV

Listings for Time and Station....Copyright 1985

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. GoBots is a trademark of

Tonka Corporation" (Kay, 1986, p. 7). Hanna-Barbera also

cooperated with Hasbro to produce The Transformers. The

only difference between a Transformer and a GoBot is the

name of the manufacturer, and both has television shows

29

Transformer Cartoons 29

about the toys to sell their goods. Although the link

between commercialism and programs has long been apparent,

this blatant use of negative programming to sell toys is

unique among the robotic adventure shows.

Over the years, research has proven that television

violence can negatively affect children. Yet, many

children's cartoons--the robotic adventures--thrive on

violence. While one might expect the new transforming toys

to fall by the way of many previous fads, but these new toys

have ingenious characteristics that could make them popular

over time. Just as the Barbie doll is a quarter of a

century old, so might Transformers live for years to come.

Whenever America's children involve themselves in a new

phenomenon, investigation is warranted to determine the

influence. Alexander, Ryan, and Munoz (1984) argued thP:

the verbal interaction between television viewers creates

the learning context. Thus, questions were included in this

study which asked children if they watched cartoons with

their parents and if they liked to talk to others while

viewing cartoons. Of the children questioned, most viewed

the cartoons without their parents, and preferred not to

talk to others. One may assume that those children who view

cartoons with their parents and who talk to others during

the viewing have a broader perceptual framework in the

viewing situation.

30

Transformer Cartoons 30

This study indicated serious problems with the animated

robotic adventure that included: inappropriate technical

lancvage, a complexity of evil lines, and a harsh way to

portray a good moral. Although Transformer toys have given

children a creative and modern puzzle form, the extension of

The Transformers into a television series has negative

associations for children.

31

Transformer Cartoons 31

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TABLE ONEItem Boys-Yes Girls-Yes Boys-No Girls-No

Have Watched Transformers 20 12 0 2Have Seen Transformer Ads 19 11 1 3

Know good from evil Transformers 20 12 0 5Cartoons are good for me 18 11 2 3

Parents watch cartoons with me 11 10 11 5Okay for me to watch Transformers 19 12 0 2Transformers is more for boys than girls 18 12 1 4Transformers have power 19 9 0 4I talk while watching cartoons 6 7 15 7

Transformers are like real life 13 7 12 10

:3 G